DISINFO: Kyiv is restricting minority languages while Moscow does the opposite
SUMMARY
Residents taught the Russian president how to say hello in Chukchi and Eskimo languages, drawing attention to the issues surrounding the use of indigenous languages. It is here that a remarkable difference between the Russian and Ukrainian approaches becomes evident: while Kiev seeks at all costs to stifle the use of languages of ethnic minorities, Moscow is taking the opposite approach.
RESPONSE
Disinformation about Ukraine suppressing the use of languages of ethnic minorities, whilst representing Russia is the model of democracy.
Hundreds of rare languages spoken by Russia's ethnic minorities are disappearing even more rapidly than recently-published census data suggests. The situation of minority languages is difficult in contemporary Russia that people self-immolate to attract attention.
Russia signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2001 but has not ratified it. In 2023, Russia announced its withdrawal from the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM), the most comprehensive legally binding treaty dedicated to the protection of minority rights. This decision followed a history of Russian policies and actions towards minorities that often contradicted the key principles of the Framework Convention. In contrast to Russia's challenging situation regarding minority rights, the Kremlin has been accused by the Council of Europe of using language issues as a pretext for military aggression against Ukraine. For instance, in occupied Crimea, Russia has a track record for suppressing and discriminating Crimea Tatar local cultural heritage.
While Ukrainian is the state language of Ukraine, the constitution also guarantees the free development, use, and protection of Russian and other languages of national minorities in Ukraine. In 2023, the Venice Commission welcomed the adoption of a long-awaited new Law on National Minorities. This law provides numerous guarantees in conformity with international standards. However, the Commission noted that several provisions of the law should be reconsidered.
Furthermore, Ukraine is a signatory to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which guarantees that people in Ukraine have the right: "to use freely and without interference his or her minority language, in private and in public, orally and in writing". This contrasts with the situation in Russia, which denounced the convention on 3 January 2024.
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